Sublime Márquez wins from last spot in stunning Valencia race

Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol’s Marc Márquez rode a phenomenal race at the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana as he charged his way to victory from last on the grid ahead of Julián Simón and Nico Terol.

In a race that started on a wet track, Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2’s Terol had a sensational start and took the lead in Turn 4, which was named after him earlier in the day. He had Tuenti Movil HP 40’s Pol Espargaró, Came IodaRacing Projects’ Simone Corsi and Interwetten-Paddock’s Tom Lüthi in tow. Márquez, who started last, was already up to 11th after just one lap. Blusens Avintia’s Julián Simón had also charged up the field and was on the back of Espargaró’s rear wheel.

Whilst Márquez was looking strong, Federal Oil Gresini Moto2’s Gino Rea made a pass on the Spaniard, as the pair was being held up by Terol’s teammate Jordi Torres. With 21 laps remaining Torres had been passed, as Rea had also made his way past Technomag-CIP’s Dominique Aegerter, with Márquez finding it tougher to pass the Swiss rider. The battling was fierce as the group caught up to Lüthi, who was soon involved in the fight for sixth.

There was however drama a few laps later as Espargaró slid off after making contact with Corsi. He managed to re-mount and re-join in 18th. In the meantime, Simón had passed Terol to take the lead, as Espargaró’s crash left Tech 3 Racing’s Xavier Siméon in third. JiR Moto2’s Johann Zarco made himself known on lap nine, as the Frenchman found his stride and started to halt Márquez’s progress. Siméon’s race was however soon halted as he slid off, with Zarco soon following suit as conditions started to worsen.

Márquez and Rea continued their enthralling battle, once touching, which saw Márquez having to run wide. Yet Márquez did not hold back as he passed Rea and then Aegerter in a tough move town the straight, which prompted the Spaniard to hold up an apologetic hand. Rea suffered disappointment soon after as he crashed out chasing Márquez, who was then in third spot. In the meantime, QMMF Racing’s Rafid Topan Sucipto had crashed out, yet was able to re-join the race, while his teammate Elena Rosell was taken out by JiR Moto2’s Eric Granado.

With eight laps left Márquez was on a mission as he flew past Terol and started to hunt down Simón at the front. His pace was significantly higher than the front-runner, and with three laps left Márquez was on the back wheel of Simón. And heading into the penultimate lap the World Champion made his way past to take the lead. He did not relinquish that lead and ended up taking victory in his final ever Moto2™ race before moving up to MotoGP™ in stunning fashion. It is the first time in history that a rider has won a race from 33rd on the grid. Simón and Terol took the final spots on the podium, with this being Terol’s first ever podium in the intermediate-class.